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"Don’t look at me." Elena took a slow sip of her drink, completely ignoring me. "She’s a grown woman. You don’t control her."
“Don’t control you either,” he muttered amusedly.
“You know me,” she quipped.
“I do know you, Wildflower,” Mavericksaid softly.
The teasing way he said it sent a rush of irritation through me. They had that easy, familiar banter—like they actually enjoyed each other. Like Maverick fucking Kincaid knew her in ways I used to…and never would again.
Maverick grinned at her, then turned that smirk on me. I wanted to hit him…hard.
“You should head on back to your table, Duke,” Maverick drawled. “So much land to squander, so little time. I’m sure Otis and that asshole Bryce are salivating, ready to suck your dick so you’ll sell off your daddy’s land, piece by piece.”
I saw Elena’s hand around her glass stiffen.
“A hundred thousand acres of it,” I supplied lazily. “Yeah, theyareon their knees.”
“Doesn’t it bother you one bit how hard your father, his father…generations of your family worked to maintain this land?” Maverick asked me, but he was looking at Elena.
Her face was drawn, and all the flirty, casualness about her was gone. It bothered her that I was selling Wilder Ranch. Good. I wanted it to bother her. I wanted something to hurt her as she’d hurt me by not telling me who her mother was to my father. If she had, I wouldn’t have touched her with a barge pole, and none of this would be happening. My heart wouldn’t feel hollow and empty like it didn’t belong to me. I’d fall in love with Fiona, the perfect fucking woman for me. I’d live without thinking about the woman with chocolate-brown eyes and full lips.
“My ranch, my business,” I snapped, but like Maverick, I was also watching the woman who sat between us.
"It’s all of our business," Maverick shot back. "What you do to Wilder Ranch affects every ranch in this valley. Selling your legacy just to make a quick buck is low."
I set my drink down hard on the bar. "Jealous, Kincaid? I could talk to Otis and?—”
“You’re a dumb son of a bitch, aren’t you?” Maverick interrupted me. “You lost the girl. You’ll lose the land. And you’ll lose your soul.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Which girl are you talking about? This one.” I inclined my chin toward Elena. “Her pussy wasn’t so?—”
“Enough.” Elena pushed her barstool back and stood up. “Measure your dicks if you want, but keep my cooch out of it. Maverick, next time, let’s pick a place where I don’t run into my boss. Duke, see you at first light for the morning roundup."
And then she walked out.
I stared after her, jaw tight.
Maverick chuckled, shaking his head. "The girl you lost has become one hell of a fuckin’ amazing woman,” he informed me.
Mine, I wanted to tell him as I broke his nose.
But she wasn’t mine. She’d been for a short time a long time ago, and now I was just panting around like a puppy, wanting her attention. How pathetic was I?
My woman was expertly maneuvering politicians and land developers to benefit me, and I was looking for scraps of attention from a freaking horse trainer whodidn’t know how to dress for a place like the Blackwood Prime.
But I could lie to everyone, just not to myself, not when I could still smell her—a combination of lavender and horses.
I still loved her. Even when I hated her. Even when it would’ve been easier if I didn’t. Andthatwas the real fucking problem.
CHAPTER 7
elena
The morning roundup started before sunrise.
The sky was still bruised with the last traces of night. The air smelled of damp earth and strong coffee, thick from dented thermoses and chipped enamel mugs.
Hunt stood in his usual spot near the corral, early light catching the lines on his face. He didn’t have to raise his voice—when Hunt spoke, people listened.